The Brief: Cruz Renews Push Against Trump, Rubio In Nevada

The Big Conversation

Nevada Republicans caucus today in the last of the four GOP early voting contests.

For Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, it gives him one more opportunity to carve out space for himself against front-runner Donald Trump and Marco Rubio following his narrow third-place finish on Saturday in South Carolina.

Cruz is taking a similar approach in Nevada as he did in New Hampshire, the Tribune’s Patrick Svitek reported, building a libertarian-leaning coalition to tap into the anti-establishment mood among many Nevada voters.

Overtaking Trump remains a tall order. Svitek writes that reliable polling is hard to find in Nevada, but the few surveys that have been taken “have found Trump leading the field by anywhere from 13 to 26 percentage points.”

The Nevada caucuses represent the last opportunity for the GOP field to face voters before next Tuesday’s set of mainly southern state primaries. Cruz, Svitek wrote, is pulling out the stops in Nevada, organizing 10 events in the three days leading up to the caucuses. Among the surrogates helping Cruz is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick who will be in Nevada also through the caucuses.

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